THE VOLUNTEER
Was it petty to make the officer wait? Yes. Did I feel bad about it? Not one bit. The police didn’t do jack shit for this city anyway, so what if one cop wasted an hour of their time? It wasn’t like they would have helped anyone anyway.
Rivermount was an easy city to navigate, most of the city streets were just numbers—odd numbers ran north to south, and even numbers ran east to west. It was broken up into five official districts, but the area affected by the incident had become its own unofficial district.
The only kind of confusing thing was the streets ended when you crossed districts. But you got used to it.
The smallest district was City Core which was dead-centre, and the only place to have actual street names. The way the districts had been split made me laugh a little bit because it looked like a pizza slice on the map.
The northern district was mostly for the uber rich and more farms. (I grew up there, but most of my classmates considered me poor instead of middle class.) Officially, it was called Mountainside because of Mount Veecy; unofficially, it had been referred to as Avalanche’s Cove since his debut attack on City Core, even though the area remained mostly unscathed.
He’d needed the mountain to create the momentum, but he’d maneuvered his attack around every building, sticking mostly to the parks and fields as much as he could to get to downtown.
Finally, on the lower east side from 81st to 99th odd and 60th to 88th even, was Bridges. I have no idea why it was named that—there wasn’t a single bridge in the whole district.
We were a large city area-wise but our population was on the lower end—around 400,000.
I guess that tended to happen when villains were running around, completely unchecked.
Plus, the incident tended to give prospective movers pause.
It had been nearly six years, but it could happen again.
They still don’t know how it happened the first time.
I was glad I decided to walk. It was a rare sunny winter day (sure November was technically fall but this was northern Ontario, we’d had snow for a couple weeks already).
Snow littered the ground from last week’s storm, but with the mild temperatures and sun beating down, it was starting to melt.
It was a bit slushy, but that was what winter boots were for.
I arrived at the hospital five minutes early and took my time getting up to my office, stopping to talk with everyone who asked about yesterday. By the time I actually approached my door, it was half past 10.
My day was instantly ruined. They sent Officer O’Neill. I hadn’t seen him since the mugger I took down a week ago, I thought he was finally taking the hint. I bet he volunteered for this. Stubborn jerk. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.
He was patiently waiting, leaning against the wall with his hands tucked into his bullet proof vest, his eyes lazily scanning the lobby. He almost looked happy to be here. That made me irritated.
“Officer O’Neill, sorry to keep you waiting,” I said in my friendliest tone.
His gaze met mine, and he gave me a warm smile.
Damn it, he was turning on the charm. He’d been trying to get me to agree to another date for over a year and, honestly, I was close to cracking.
All the time I was spending with Avalanche was making me irrationally horny, and I seriously needed to get laid before I did something I couldn’t take back.
Come on, the guy was a supervillain. I was just asking to get my heart broken.
“It’s no trouble Miss Hayes.”
“I’m sure you have more important things to do than wait around for a phone all morning.”
I unlocked my door and slipped into my office. This was the main hospital I worked out of, so I actually had a room here. For the hospitals on 56th and 65th, I shared a space with all of the other volunteers so I didn’t have the same set-up.
“I was told this was my top priority.”
I walked over to my desk and leaned on it.
“I’d be flattered your police force has taken such an interest in me if I hadn’t walked past six crack dens on my way to work this morning.”
His smile faltered. “Do you have the phone?”
I unlocked one of my drawers and grabbed the phone off the top of some papers.
“Here you are. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No, ma’am. I just…” He paused, looking down at his body armour.
I noticed the little green light on his body cam.
He pressed a button near the bottom and the light turned red.
“I just wanted to apologize for Detective Chambers’ behaviour yesterday.
He’s an old-school jackass, and I wanted to let you know that we’re not all like that.
I’m not like that.” He pulled a business card out of his back pocket.
I accepted it. “If you need anything, please call.”
“Thank you, Officer.”
“How many times do I have to ask you to call me Chris?”
“You can keep asking. Maybe one day I will.”
His smile was back.
“I’ll take it. Have a good day, Miss Hayes.”
Three nights later, I was walking through my door at my usual time of 8:30 p.m. trying not to think about the tail that had been following me all day.
It was unnerving being watched everywhere I went.
I didn’t know if they were trying to get me to lead them to a villain’s lair or what, but they were dumb.
Or maybe they thought I was dumb and wouldn’t notice.
I was curled up in bed forty-five minutes later reading the newest book Amber recommended when my phone rang.
No, not my phone. The new burner phone Avalanche gave me in the car after my trip to the police station.
I was getting really tired of these villains calling me at all hours of the night and interrupting my reading time.
Seriously, the slow burn was finally burning! This better be fucking important.
“Hello?”
“You never called.”
It took me a second to place the voice.
“Shit, Eva. I’m sorry. I was going to but…um… Well, life got a bit crazy and— Hang on a second. How did you get my number? No, this isn’t my number this is— You’re…”
She laughed. “You’re so cute when you ramble like this.”
“Who are you?” I whispered.
“Forgive me for not introducing myself the first time we met, but I wasn’t sure I could trust you.
Av vouched for you, but he’s… It doesn’t matter.
After seeing how you stood up for Weave, I was thinking about telling you.
I knew for sure I could trust you after Viv vouched for you. I’m The Blacksmith.”
My jaw dropped. She was legendary. There wasn’t much known about The Blacksmith beyond whispers of the name.
Supposedly, if you brought her a design, she could make literally anything.
The rumour was that she was the weapons master, the gadget maker, and the bookkeeper for every single villain.
Worldwide. Most people outside the villain circles didn’t even believe The Blacksmith was real. But she was, and she was calling me.
“Why?”
She laughed again.
“I wanted to give you my information in case someone wanted to meet me.”
“Meet you? Eva, you’re like the bogeyman, no one even believes you’re real!”
“Yes, I worked really hard to keep it that way. But I was thinking it might be time to join the spotlight. Av said it was the most fun he’s ever had. And, well, I could use some fun.”
“Wait. Sorry, you knew it was him the whole time? He said he’d been trying to get your number for months.”
“Yeah, he’s a goofball. Probably said that to make you feel better after you turned the brightest shade of red I’ve ever seen.” She chuckled. “I’ve known him since we were kids. We grew up together.”
“So… You two… Were like…”
I didn’t know what I was saying. Whatever she thought I was asking made her laugh though.
“It’s not like that.”
My cheeks flushed.
“I didn’t… I mean I wasn’t trying… I wasn’t asking…” Oh my god! Shut up, Violet! “It’s none of my business anyway.” Great, you finished a thought. Gold star.
“Sure, but I saw the way you looked at him that day in the bar. It’s okay to be curious. We have never and would never. He’s basically my brother.”
“I’m not curious. Not even a little bit.” Was my voice squeaky? It felt squeaky. “He’s not my type.”
She chuckled again. “You look like a woman that doesn’t have a type.”
She had me there. None of my boyfriends had ever looked the same and, as a stereotypical bisexual, I’d never had a girlfriend.
“I should also be honest about one more thing.” She added. “I’m not—well I am but—I’m not really interested in relationships. I was just… My favourite pastime is pissing off Av. I hope you’ll forgive me for…all that.”
I was not liking this Av business. Maybe I had been a little curious about their relationship. Maybe I was a bit jealous, too.
“Thank god. I— Well, I am too, kind of, but I’ve never done more than you know and I was…overconfident after those shots, and… Maybe that was part of the reason I didn’t call.”
“We can still be friends, though?”
“Of course.”
“Thank god. Being a woman in this business is brutal. I need a girlfriend. All this testosterone is getting to be too much.”
“I can only imagine.” I laughed. “I’m sure I’ll understand where you’re coming from in no time.” My phone buzzed. “Sorry, someone else is calling me.”
“No problem. Stop by the bar tomorrow, I’ll show you the back and give you my contact information.”
She hung up before I could ask any follow up questions. I answered the new call.
“Hello?”
“Hey.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now? It’s after 10 p.m., why are you calling me, Avalanche?”
His laugh assaulted my eardrum.
“Wow, good morning to you, too, Sunshine. How was your day?”
“I just want to read my book.” I groaned. “Can you get on with why you’re calling so I can get back to that, please? I was just getting to the best part.”
“What book is it?”
A bookworm’s least favourite question. I could tell him but he’d probably go pick it up, and while I’d admitted to reading porn, he didn’t need to know the details of what kind.
“That’s not why you called.”
“Correct. I called to see how it went with the officer the other day because I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to you since. Forgive me for trying to make small talk. I didn’t realize that was illegal.”
My cheeks heated. Three days was the longest we’d gone without talking since I met Weave, and I was trying not to sulk about it. But now he was calling, and I was trying to act annoyed when I was really happy to hear his voice.
I was in so much trouble.
“I just want to read my book. I was already interrupted by your friend Eva, but I actually enjoy talking to her so I didn’t mind as much.”
“I don’t have a friend named—”
“Save it. She told me about The Blacksmith.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The visit was fine. The officer was friendly and polite. I’ve known him awhile. He asked me out last summer but cancelled our date because an icicle fell on his car. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what my friend Kelsey said. Maybe he saw you from across the room one day and became obsessed with you. This was the perfect set-up to find out.
“I dunno. What’s the guy’s name? I drop a lot of icicles on a lot of people.”
“And what about cars?”
“When and where was this supposed icicle dropped on his car?”
“Last June, near Henderson and Taggle.”
“Hm.” He paused. “I very well may have. I do silly things to keep myself entertained.”
I didn’t fully believe him but I dropped it.
“Alright. He gave me his business card again. I guess he must have a new phone or something. He told me to call if I needed anything, isn’t that nice?”
“That’s what you have me—us for.”
I bookmarked my page and set my book back on my end table, then put the phone on speaker, laid it on my pillow, and pulled my comforter over my shoulders. If this was going to be a long conversation, I might as well get more comfortable, right?
“Are you jealous? You sound jealous.”
“Of some blond-haired fuckboy cop?” He snorted. “No chance.”
“How did you know he was blond?”
“I assumed it was the officer who responded to the mugging. Was I incorrect?”
“No.” I chuckled. “But you know you’re blond too. Just saying.”
“Less than 10% of the time.”
I could practically feel him rolling his eyes.
“So less than 10% of you time, you’re a fuckboy? What’s that like?”
He mumbled something incoherent before sighing.
“I hate you.”
I grinned. I’d been waiting to throw his words back at him for days.
“You absolutely do not. You might wish you could but I’m too adorable.”
“Can’t argue with that, Nightshade.”
There it was again. I was sure I’d imagined it that day in the bar when he was all up in my personal space.
I hadn’t been thinking clearly then; he’d been standing so close, heat radiating off of him, lips so close I thought for a second he might— But now I had a clear head and he definitely said it.
“Nightshade? Why Nightshade?”
“It suits you.”
“I’m not sure if I should be offended you compared me to a poisonous flower.”
“You shouldn’t be.” There was a long beat of silence. I wasn’t sure how to continue after that. “So, what’s your book about?”
“No.” I groaned.
“Is it dirty?”
I didn’t answer.
“How dirty?”
Still didn’t answer. He gasped again.
“Miss Violet, are you reading porn?”
“I would be, if you hadn’t called! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this moment? And you’ve ruined everything. He just saw all her scars.”
“Oh? Then what happens?”
“I don’t know! I’m talking to you.”
“I’ll let you get back to it, but I expect a full debrief that next time I talk to you. Every detail. Don’t leave anything out.”
That was quite possibly the hottest thing anyone has ever said to me.
“I might talk for hours.”
“Good.”
No. That was the hottest thing anyone had ever said to me.
How was I supposed to get rid of this stupid crush if he kept saying things like that to me. And giving me a nickname?
I was in trouble.